Chelsea owner Ted Boelli’s call for a Premier League All-Star Game similar to those played in the United States has been rejected by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
American Boley, head of the consortium that completed the 4.25 billion pound ($4.91 billion) takeover of Chelsea in May, suggested at a conference in New York that the north-south game would generate profits that would filter down the English football pyramid .
Klopp, however, believes the idea is unfeasible, citing an already crowded fixture list.
“He doesn’t wait long. If he finds a date for it, he can call me. In American sports, these players have a four-month break,” Klopp said after his side’s Champions League win over Ajax Amsterdam on Tuesday.
“He wants to bring the Harlem Globetrotters too?”
Boeli, who owns the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Sparks basketball clubs, believes a game similar to the NBA All-Star Game, which pits Eastern Conference players against Western Conference players in February, could catch on in Britain.
“At the end of the day, I hope the Premier League learns a little lesson from American sports,” Boelli told the SALT leadership conference in New York on Tuesday.
“People are talking about more money in the pyramid, this year in the MLB All-Star Game we made $200 million for Monday and Tuesday. So we think we could have a North v South Premier League All-Star Game, everything the pyramid needs quite easily.”
Teams for the NBA All-Star Game are selected by a vote of fans, players and the media.
But Klopp believes Premier League fans will not be impressed.
“Maybe Boeli can explain that. I’m not sure people want to see United players, Liverpool players and Everton players in general. The North East too, so Newcastle. “This is not a national team. All the London boys together, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, great. Did he really say that?”
